Storing HEK293 cells at -80C - (Mar/01/2009 )

I have some HEK 293 cells stored at -80C. My liquid nitro tank was full so i had to leave them at-80C. Can i still thaw and use them. How long do they remain viable at this temp?

For short term storage, your cells are OK. Cells at -80C can be viable after months or even years.

pcrman on Mar 1 2009, 06:03 PM said:

Thanks pcrman,

I have thawed them into media. I will change media at 4hours, so we'll see how it goes

They should be OK for a few weeks. Cells will survive up to about a year at -80, but the viability rapidly drops, so in effect you are selecting for cells that are resistant to freezing and/or poor conditions... meaning that your cells are no longer the same as the original cells you had.

The moral is: be careful what you do so as to not artificially change your cells and their responses.

I generally keep my adherent HEK cells stored at -80C for up to 6 months. After that time, as previously said, their viability drops off as well as how they might behave.


~Labrat

I have kept some of my 293 cells for upto 1.5 years and they have been fine.